Craft · Tansen
Watch Palpali dhaka come off the loom
Visit a family weaving workshop in Tansen to see how dhaka, the geometric cloth of Nepal's topi caps and festive blouses, is built up thread by thread on a wooden loom, and buy directly from the makers.
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Dhaka is Nepal's best-known woven textile: cotton with bright geometric patterns inlaid by hand, row by row, using only a few colours at a time. It is cut and sewn into the dhaka topi, the cap that is part of Nepali national dress, and into shawls and blouses. Palpa's weavers are among the most famous.
We visit a family workshop where women work at wooden looms, picking out each pattern with their fingers. Your guide will ask the weavers to show how a design is planned and how long a single topi panel takes.
Afterwards there is time to buy cloth, caps or shawls directly. The price of handwoven dhaka is higher than machine copies, and once you have seen the work you will understand why.
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Questions
What is Palpali dhaka?
Dhaka is a handwoven cotton cloth with inlaid geometric patterns, used for Nepal's dhaka topi caps, shawls and blouses. Weavers in Palpa, around Tansen, are among the best known, and 'Palpali dhaka' is a mark of quality. Patterns and colours vary by workshop and by the weaver's own design.
How do I tell handwoven dhaka from machine-made?
Handwoven dhaka has slight irregularities in the pattern and a softer, thicker feel, and the reverse side shows the inlaid threads. Machine-made copies are more uniform and often thinner. Buying in a workshop where you watch the weaving is the surest way. Ask the seller directly; good shops are honest about it.
How much does a dhaka topi cost in Tansen?
Prices depend on the fineness of the weave and whether the cap is handwoven. Expect a few hundred to around a thousand rupees or more for a good handwoven topi, and more for shawls and lengths of cloth. Prices in Tansen workshops are usually lower than in Kathmandu tourist shops.
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